Eleventh Cycle

Mistland, Book 1

By: Kian N. Ardalan

Narrated by: Jessica Threet, Evan Jordan

Length: 25 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

It has been a thousand years since the last Seed abandoned their duty. The mists are closing in. Finally, the Morning Bell tolls. A new Seed is born, but is it too late?

The rot eats away at mortals. The Witnesses pray so that they may not turn into one of the forgotten. And the constricting mists infect the lands with fear.

But there is more to this tale than just the Elders and their Seeds. Four mortals will have a part to play in Minethria’s fate.

A farmer girl with only love in her eyes.

A warrior born to the life of a refugee.

A highborn stuck between the realm of gods and men.

And a woman running into front lines and away from home.

Will the cycle finally be completed? Or will the mist swallow all? A seed is born and the evil is slain, so doth another cycle commence. Yet the last Seed born hath turned traitor, and the mists which had been pushed back, returneth.

©2023 Kian N. Ardalan (P)2023 Podium Audio

Critic reviews

"Eleventh Cycle...is a stunning achievement, establishing Kian N. Ardalan as one of the most exciting new voices in speculative fiction." (Grimdark Magazine)

scratches that itch

I was looking for a dark fantasy and oh boy did I get one. couldn't recommend more!

An okay book but not what was advertised.

From the advertising about being inspired by souls born games I had expectations of adventuring in an unknown land destory/corrupted by magic uncovering deep lore while trying to find our place in the world. Instead it is better described as a kinda grimdark but more horror slice of life book that follows the day to day lives of 4 characters over a few years. It is a decent book if that is what you are into but as the title says, not what drew me in.

The narrators do an great job at bring life to the characters but be warned, the male narrator has a bad habit of whispering and getting quieter while reading scenes to the point of having to turn up the volume to hear them and then suddenly returning to normal levels on the dialog and hurting your ears.

Audio is the way to go with this gripping novel!

I had the pleasure of joining the Escapist Book Co book tour for this, and due to time constraints, I decided to grab a copy of the audio anyway, and the two narrators did a great job.

This is book one of the dark epic fantasy series ‘Mistland’ and it’s a chonky one. The author definitely smacks you right in the middle of a very diverse and deep world. Minethria is suffering from darkness and rot. The Elders remain silent, the eleventh seed may be too late, but there are mortals at play here as well. Will it be enough?

Firstly, I loved how much is going on here. There are so many things mentioned that don’t play out in this novel that it seems like the author really knows the trajectory they’re on with this series. And with that, I’m impressed, because that’s a fine line to dance on where it could easily be too much. It’s not. There’s some great diversity in this novel, with new and intriguing races, as well as a good balance of both strong female and male characters.

Secondly, there is some phenomenal characterization here. The characters are dynamic and ever changing. They each have their own arcs and developing to go through, and it was fantastic to get to read through their journeys. I will say for the male and female narrators, they each brought a slew of different accents and voices to the table, and that definitely helped to sell the characters as well. So, although I absolutely would like one of these for my shelf now, the audio was an invaluable way to experience the storyline.

I will say I was not a fan of the spice/smut, nor the like genuine chapter of phallic descriptions, but not everything is for everyone.

Great action, fantastic descriptions, and a lot of fantasy fun (and pain). Personally a 4/5* for me. I look forward to seeing where this series can go.

Very close to a 5-star. But not quite

I found the prose to be very well crafted and the story gets a B+. I really did like the story. But it had a confusingly variable tempo. Some parts got ample detail while other parts which were integral to the story felt rushed. Easily could have been 5/5 if a little more care had been taken.

The best book I have ever heard!!

I typically listen to horror but my husband suggested this book and OMG he was spot on! Yes it is gory and the sex scenes are a tad undesirable but for a Grimdark book that is to be expected!! I teared up I giggled I was shocked and can not wait for book 2 to come out!!! I need to know what happens next!!! I need at least 5 books for this series! I need to know what happens to everyone and what their world will be like!!!! I am in love with this author and series already!!

Catharsis abound

This book made me feel Many emotions and care for the characters a great deal. The story was engaging. Can’t wait for the next book

Looking forward to book 2

Eleventh Cycle is a grimdark novel which means the intent of the literature is for bad things to happen.  This leads to very well-written character development. Overall, I really enjoyed the book, but it lost a star primarily for 3-5 times crudely and graphically delineating every act, every hand motion, every swallow in hard core porn.

The actual premise of "eleventh cycle" and "mistborn" have very little relevance in book 1.  Essentially Evaris is a seed or spawn of the god Elder King created with the express purpose of destroying an evil, resetting the world and solidifying the 11th cycle.

The novel features four main characters: Dalia, Nora, Erefiel, and Chroma.  It opens with two primary storyline that quickly sync up before everyone goes their own way and occasionally interact.  I feel this was very well done as it didn't read like four separate short stories.  When characters meet, the narration alternates between the various perspectives, but it is very easy to follow as long as you have access to reading the chapter title.

Everything below contains mild spoilers.

Evaris the seed of the Elder King.  In order to accomplish its purpose, it must learn four primary aspects of humanity, each from a different person.  It is the second 11th seed as the first betrayed the Elder King.

Dalia is a witch who can't use her power on pain of death and impuning the reputation of a man who saved her life.  She gets ripped away from her family and forced to serve in the church in order to chaperone her against further witchcraft.  She suffers from self-pitty over the sacrifices for and/or because of her.

Nora rebelled from her family over theocratic differences and joined the military against their wishes.  She suffers from serious self-esteem issues and has multiple seriously traumatic events happen to her, some her fault, others unavoidable.

Captain General Erefiel is a non-human Nephilim noble whose father has been in the service of the Elder King for several millenia.  Erefiel has to weigh every decision against his family's reputation.

Chroma is a half-breed, non-human Akar refugee, treated as a second class citizen living with humans facing hostility with his home nation.  He is a bastard born from a mother prostituting herself out to pay the bills and a human he never knew to be his father.

Interesting but Inconsistent

The narrators of this audiobook did a fantastic job with it, both were able to give their 2-4 POV characters unique voices and characterization by performance alone. Jessica Threet especially did an outstanding job, but it was A/A+ performances throughout.

The story had some promise but was inconsistent. The homages and references were noticeable and appreciated which is where a lot of the marketing/buzz has been coming from and it is true that it does conjure some of the FromSoft Souls vibes in the world building and Berserk's presence is noticable as well.

The book on its own had some issues most noticeably in the prose (especially in the sex scenes) and I felt the pacing was very inconsistent with big things happening quickly between long bouts of not a lot going on.

I was pretty hyped going into this one and feel a bit disappointed. Thinking about it though I don't know how anyone could pull off recreating my experience of a souls story in novel form. Now that I do know what to expect, I will be looking forward to the next in the series and I think I'll enjoy it more, especially if the author continues to grow in his prose.

The quality of the prose overshadows everything

I'm not going to say this book is terrible because I'm not comfortable saying that. Listen to the audio sample. That is how this book is written and read.

My biggest gripe is that the prose is trying too hard to be good and just ends up purple. Very very purple. Great yawning adjectives abound every other drawn out sentence like a great oak in the middle of the winding road. Vaguely descriptive exposition is inserted all around, littering the field like poppies. Dragging out the breath of the narrative to the point it might choke horribly on its own words and die a slow cruel death in the bone aching cold. 'Hrumphf.' We've exhausted all the bleedingly obvious literary, so pause for a weeping moment please while I reach for the big thesaurus on the highest self of the tall black oak pillar of a bookcase in the corner of yonder room. Standing like an obsidian spike from the wooden sea.

And I can't get over that. It overshadows every other aspect of this book, including other complaints I could make or compliments I could offer.

If you're here because you heard the story was like Dark Souls. Yes. I'd say it captures that sort of world and setting. Even the atmosphere.

But it's just not enough to get over the elephant in the room. The writing is just so jumbled. Everything becomes word soup. The narrators don't help. I can hear them trying but it's just not enough. In many ways the reading makes this problem worse with odd emphasis, pauses, and exaggerated 'hrumphs' thrown in here and there.

Great story narration. A little ling winded

Narrator story plot. Coulda been 200 pages shorter. 4.2 out of 5 stars. Would recommend for extra violent fantasy